To Find Yourself Standing Up
by Lemon Drop Lie Detector
Summary: An Inherit the Wind fanfiction venturing into Bert's head as he deals with the trial.


_Recently my theater group performed _Inherit the Wind_ and during tech week we read the play in my English class and talked about the Scope's Trial in my History class. So it was pretty much the only thing I could think about. I decided to write this, because I love Bert and Rachel's relationship, and thought it could have been explored more deeply in the play. I don't know if I will continue it or not, but if I do, it will probably show the trial from Bert's point of view with a focus on his relationship with Rachel, and possibly go on to the life they lived together after leaving Hillsboro. If you have not read or seen _Inherit the Wind _I will try my best to make this make sense standing on it's own, but I highly recommend reading the play, simply because it is absolutely incredible. _

**Disclaimer: This is a fic based on the play _Inherit the Wind_ by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, which is loosely based on the Scope's Monkey Trial of 1925. However, this story is not meant to represent the actual people involved in that case. Bertram Cates is not the same person as John Scopes and his situation is very different in some ways. I do not own any rights to _Inherit the Wind_.**

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><p>I tapped my fingertips on the rough, worn wool of the blanket we lay on. My other hand was entwined with hers, thin and delicate, with long graceful fingers. I stared up at the sky, scattered with thousands of stars, like so many marbles, that slipped through the fingers of a clumsy child. But tonight it didn't provide the calming effect it usually did. Instead, the whole universe seemed to be weighing down on me, a heavy and hot burden, screaming of the truth I was failing to tell.<p>

Slowly I turned onto my side and looked into her face, which had turned towards mine at the sound of movement. Her eyes were a soft brown, best described as velvety, but they were scattered throughout with flecks of sunlight, in its purest form. Her features were sharp and delicate. She had a pointed chin, a small, angular nose, and almost elfin ears. Her face was dusted with freckles, though they were barely visible by the light of the thin moon, and framed by long, thick, straight hair, a shade darker than auburn.

"I taught my science class about evolution today." I said it quickly, trying to tell her casually, but I knew she would see through it, considering how upset I had been about the passing of the Butler Act*, and sure enough, her eyes were widened in shock.

"Bert, that's illegal!" Her tone was sharp, but her voice was still soft and melodious, lacing through the stagnant air.

"I know, but I had to do it, Rache. I had to." I desperately wanted her to understand what I knew she wouldn't.

"No, you didn't. You could have followed the rules for once." She suddenly seemed angry, but I had no desire to fight with her, so I just answered quietly,

"I'm never going to change who I am." She sighed, and forced a small smile.

"I know… But you broke the law, Bert. You could be-" she faltered, seemingly unsure how to finish that sentence. "What's going to happen?" The question was weak and wavering, as though she was using all of her strength to push the syllables from her unwilling throat, but she was still unsure that she wanted them out there, weighting the air between us. I swallowed.

"I don't know, Rache. I suppose, if none of the kids say anything to their parents, nothing. But I couldn't ask that of them, and I don't expect it of them. So I guess, if one of the parents decides to complain, there would be a trial, and I would be fined… or something."

"And the whole town would know." I nodded. "Including my father." I held her gaze for a long time before answering.

"I don't think that will make any difference. Ever since I dropped out of church, there was no chance of him accepting us. You know that." She was silent, but I could see her all too familiar internal struggle. She wanted to please the father she both feared and loved, but she had hated hiding our relationship from the time it had begun.

"Why, Bert? Why did you do it?"

"You know why I did it, Rachel. Those kids deserve a real education and it's my job to provide them with one." There were tears glinting in her eyes, though they never spilled over, as she shook her head.

"Why do you always have to change things?"

"That's the way I am." I shrugged and she nodded, breathing in deeply and letting it out in a sigh.

"I'm scared, Bert." I moved closer to her, wrapping my arms around her thin frame.

"Don't be," I whispered. Our lips met softly, gently, hesitantly. And that question still floated between us, seeming to keep us apart. What _would _happen?

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><p>*<strong>Butler Act<strong>- A law passed in 1925 in Tennessee preventing public school teachers from teaching anything that contradicts the theory of Biblical Creationism. This is the law that Scopes was accused of breaking, and though it is not ever mentioned in the play, for the purposes of this story, it is also what Cates was accused of breaking.


End file.
